Freecost vs OpenKitchen

Freecost—Visit OOpenKitchen—Visit

Freecost #1 in Restaurant Recipe Costing Software —/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Freecost

vs

O OpenKitchen #4 in Restaurant Recipe Costing Software —/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 5 features Visit OpenKitchen

• Freecost fits best

  Free users needing full costing and inventory

• OpenKitchen fits best

  Technical teams wanting open-source costing

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Side by side

Feature	Freecost —/10 Visit ↗	OOpenKitchen —/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	—	—
Ranking	#1 in Restaurant Recipe Costing Software	#4 in Restaurant Recipe Costing Software
Best for	Free users needing full costing and inventory	Technical teams wanting open-source costing
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Not published	Not published
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Mobile	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Android	Web
Support	Email	Docs, Community
Built for	Small business, Mid-market	Small business, Mid-market
Features Freecost 5/5 · OpenKitchen 1/5
Inventory tracking	✓ (best)	Not published
Yield and portion scaling	✓ (best)	Not published
Menu profitability	✓ (best)	Not published
Ingredient price updates	✓ (best)	Not published
Multi-location support	✓	✓
Specs
Recipe limit	Not published	Not published
Our review
Pros	Automatic cost updates when ingredient prices change Includes inventory, waste logging, invoices, and vendor orders Supports multiple kitchens through one account	Recursive costing covers ingredients, recipes and sub-recipes. Tracks supplier prices, invoices, inventory variance and production usage. Self-hosting, integrations and a JSON API support custom workflows.
Cons	Available through web and Android only Focused on restaurant costing and kitchen operations Terms allow paid features after at least 30 days' notice	Purchase-order creation and tracking are outside the documented workflows. Delivery-receiving workflows are not part of the described feature set. Deployment under AGPL-3.0 requires technical ownership of the self-hosted option.
Our verdict	Freecost is restaurant recipe-costing software for operators who need one place to manage ingredient prices, vendors, pack sizes, allergens, recipes, menu items, and food-cost margins. It supports recipe and menu-item costing, food-cost… Read the review →	OpenKitchen is open-source back-of-house software for independent restaurants, multi-site groups, commissary kitchens, caterers, bakeries and cloud kitchens. It brings ingredients, suppliers, recipes, food-cost calculations, inventory,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Freecost — where it wins

  • Automatic cost updates when ingredient prices change
  • Includes inventory, waste logging, invoices, and vendor orders
  • Supports multiple kitchens through one account

  Where it doesn't

  • Available through web and Android only
  • Focused on restaurant costing and kitchen operations
  • Terms allow paid features after at least 30 days' notice

• OpenKitchen — where it wins

  • Recursive costing covers ingredients, recipes and sub-recipes.
  • Tracks supplier prices, invoices, inventory variance and production usage.
  • Self-hosting, integrations and a JSON API support custom workflows.

  Where it doesn't

  • Purchase-order creation and tracking are outside the documented workflows.
  • Delivery-receiving workflows are not part of the described feature set.
  • Deployment under AGPL-3.0 requires technical ownership of the self-hosted option.

• Freecost—/10 · Free plan

  A free restaurant costing system with inventory, invoices, margins, and multi-location support.

  Visit FreecostFull verdict →
• OOpenKitchen—/10 · Free plan

  A free, open-source costing system with unusually broad inventory and supplier workflows.

  Visit OpenKitchenFull verdict →